Iraq’s presidencies agree to delay PMF Law
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Iraq’s Coordination Framework (CF), an alliance of Shiite political parties, said on Monday that the country’s top leaders agreed to delay the passage of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Authority Law and withdraw the draft from parliament.
CF member Uday al-Khadran told Shafaq News that a recent meeting of the four presidencies — the president, the prime minister, the parliament speaker, and the judiciary chief — decided to postpone the legislation “to preserve internal stability and prevent Iraq from being drawn into any regional escalation.”
He stressed that the decision does not mean dissolving or dismantling the PMF, noting that responsibility for the law will be left to the next parliament and government. “This matter will not and cannot happen regardless of internal or external pressure.”
Read more: Iraq’s PMF Law, A battle for state control
The proposed law aims to regulate the paramilitary force by standardizing ranks, clarifying its relationship with the Defense and Finance Ministries, securing funding mechanisms, and requiring military backgrounds for senior leadership positions.
Most Shiite blocs back the measure, while Kurdish and Sunni factions oppose elements of the draft.
The PMF was created in 2014 following a religious edict from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani after the fall of Mosul to ISIS. It brought together thousands of volunteers alongside established forces under a government-sanctioned structure.
